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Alpaca Breeder Farm

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It started with yarn. Kathy loves to knit, so when we visited the Luckett’s Fair in Lucketts, Virginia, of course we stopped at the yarn vendor. The alpaca yarn was lovely, soft, and totally irresistible. We bought enough to knit a wrap, with plenty left over. We also talked, and admired the photos of the cria that had been born two weeks before the Fair. Without even realizing it, we had found our retirement! The next weekend, driving home from our weekend place in West Virginia, we spotted an “Alpaca Farm Store Open” sign, and that was that. We stopped in, visited the alpacas, shopped at the farm store, talked with the owner, and then spoke of nothing else for weeks. At Christmas we went back to buy some alpaca slippers and socks (you’ll not find warmer or softer socks!) and ended up starting our herd.

We started as a one-alpaca farm – our Macaria is agisted at Bear Garden Farm in West Virginia. Her (and our) first cria was born in April 2009. We named her Esperanza, which means Hope. We bought Sheba and her cria, Shamrock, soon after, so our little herd has grown. In March 2010 Sheba produced Artic Storm's Tempest whose "dad" is part of the Snowmass Artic Trio, and in April Macaria had a boy we've named Tuxedo. We’ve spent the last year learning about the care and feeding of alpacas. We helped with shearing, and Kathy has learned to spin her own yarn. She’s also dusted off that rigid heddle loom and is weaving rugs, and Jay built a small triangle loom. Julia no longer wants to major in music at college; she’s decided she wants to be a large animal veterinarian. We are still dreaming of the day in the not too distant future (seems distant though!) when we can retire and buy our own farm. We hope you’ll check back often and share our excitement!

You can also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SHF_Alpacas....
or become a fan of Sugar Hollow on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sugar-Hollow-
Farm/1359917

Our two Dams, Macaria and Sheba, now have a track record of flawless births. Both have produced healthy cria with picture perfect deliveries and no complications. They are attentive and protective mothers who bond instantly with their cria. In fact, Macaria previously accepted another dam's cria for nursing while the other dam was in distress. What good is a $5,000 breeding to a fabulous herdsire if your dam can barely deliver, or wants nothing to do with the cria after it arrives? Both Sheba and Macaria are now available for purchase, either separately or together as a package. We hope Macaria's daughter Esperanza will be as good a dam as she is, now that Esperanza has been bred as well. If you're looking for a dam who can deliver, either Sheba or Macaria could be the one for you!